Carey Price: Coyotes move won’t help Kent Hughes trade him

Carey Price has already said he’d rather not see his contract traded by the Habs, the only team he’s ever played for.

However, he is aware that his contract prevents the Habs from maximizing their payroll (especially in the summer… and especially with Brendan Gallagher, who could also end his career on the LTIR one day) and he wouldn’t say no to a trade if it would help the Habs.

In any case, it wouldn’t change a thing: he’s back in Western Canada with his family. It wouldn’t change anything from day to day.

But that doesn’t mean it’s definitely going to happen. After all, Price has a different contract in terms of money than Shea Weber (who was traded to Vegas in 2022, to Arizona in 2023 and sees “his club” move to Salt Lake City in 2024).

If Weber earned peanuts at the end of his deal, it’s a different story for Price.

In fact, the goaltender will receive $5.5 million on July 1, but also on July 1, 2025. Otherwise, until the end of his contract in 2026, he earns $2 million per season in real money.

His impact on the payroll remains $10.5M until 2026.

What this means is that the goalie will be difficult to trade before July 1, 2025. After all, if a club wants him, it’s to pay him peanuts in order to take advantage of his big impact on the payroll to reach the floor.

So maybe he could potentially be traded in the summer of 2025(I said it this morning: you have to wait a year, with the Habs), but I think it would take a Kent Hughes magic trick to make it happen this summer.

And I don’t believe in magic so much…

That said, in today’s column on BPM Sports, Renaud Lavoie raised the following question: will the GM manage to trade (Price’s contract) to another team this summer?

He doesn’t have the answer, but he asked the question nonetheless.

In his column, the journalist mentioned that seeing the Coyotes leave for Salt Lake City was not good news for the Habs, however, given that Ryan Smith, the new owner, wants to increase his payroll.

The organization we know today as the Coyotes should no longer be a graveyard for ugly contracts to reach the salary floor. And since it was pretty much the only club doing that…

In any case, Price and Weber will be able to continue chilling out together on Robidas Island in Western Canada, no matter who’s paying them. Because yes, unlike Patrick Roy in the old days, they’ll finish their contracts on the injured list instead of coughing up the cash.

In gusto

– Sabres sold?

– Kris Letang is injured.

– The hopefuls are rolling along nicely.

– Cases to follow.

– To watch in the AHL.

– A long summer awaits 16 clubs.

– Small contract in Vancouver.